Publishing Poetry

Lesson 4: Promoting Your Work

The Poetry Reading

Recommended reading:Poet Power! The Practical Poet’s Guide to Getting Published, Chapter 11

Poetry readings provide a wonderful opportunity to share your work with others. If you have a book, you can also offer copies for sale at poetry readings. You can give poetry readings at writer’s clubs, arts organizations, schools, colleges, libraries, bookstores, and other organizations whose interest may match the subject of your poetry. For instance, if your poetry has a religious theme, perhaps you can give readings at local churches.

These places will seldom contact you and ask you to come and give a reading. You will have to contact them. Send them a copy of your work and your fact sheet along with a letter offering to give a reading. Follow up with a phone call.

Sometimes coffee houses or bookstores host "open mike" poetry readings. At an open mike reading, anyone who wants to can read their work. Poets are generally limited to a certain number of poems or given a time limit. Three poems or five minutes of reading time is about right for this type of reading.

If you go to an open mike reading, arrive early to sign up. There is usually a limit to how many poets will be given an opportunity to read, and people are signed up on a first-come, first-serve basis. It’s best to be among the first poets to read, if you can, because after a while the audience tends to get bored.

In addition to promoting your work, attending open mike poetry readings can be a good way to network with other local poets.

When giving a poetry reading, don’t just stand at the front of the room and read your poems. Introduce each poem to the audience. Share relevant anecdotes or details. Show enthusiasm for your work. Make eye contact with people in the audience. Encourage questions and comments on your work. People will enjoy the event more if you relate to them on a personal level.

Practice reading your work aloud before giving a public reading. Read your work to others. Tape record yourself, then play it back and see how it sounds.

Also, pay attention to how long it takes you to read your poems. When you give a reading, you will have a set amount of time to fill. Always be prepared with more material than you think you will need. It’s better to run out of time than to run out of poems.

If you’ve published a book, you can usually sell copies at a poetry reading, although this may not be appropriate at open mike readings. Check with the host to make sure. Even if you don’t have copies of your book available for sale at the reading, be sure to mention to the audience that you have a book and let them know how to obtain a copy if they’re interested.

If you are giving a poetry reading (as opposed to attending an open mike reading), write and send out news releases beforehand.

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